That Big Bang Theory sitcom is not the sort of thing that I ever watch willingly. I had moderately high hopes for the concept which quickly died after watching the very few episodes that I did see. The only television show that's actually running right now that I'm actively keeping up on is a cartoon, though, sooo I'm not exactly representative of the average television viewer.

Reddit is also horrible but with a few pockets of not-so-horrible here and there (being such a large site with such a wide variety of boards)._________________butts

A simple principle that has never done me wrong: never trust a show with a laugh track._________________The older I get, the more certain I become of one thing. True and abiding cynicism is simply a form of cowardice.

"Blackface", as a performance practice and cultural relic, is offensive and hurtful because it draws on hundreds of years of brutal, horrific cruelty perpetrated against African-Americans. Nerds, as a social group, have never experienced institutional oppression on a level even remotely comparable.
Calling BBT "Nerd blackface" is appropriating the revulsion that people feel towards actual blackface, and using it to make a stupid joke about a TV show.

Russians, Indians, and Chinese all figured huge numbers of slaves as well. They weren't necessarily imported. Somehow that's less significant. If Amerindians weren't scattered away, they would have been used as slaves, but there's less weight in hypothesizing. The list goes on for many other peoples as well, even beyond the context of slavery. Warfare, land grabs, and the associated ethnic discrimination with those, for instance. Nobody can claim black people were alone in their experience with the effects of colonization. If black people have a higher standard reserved only for their oppression, it seems intolerant for everyone else.

That said, I understand that this style of humor doesn't resonate with everyone. I won't argue that you're "humorless" because you took offense, unless I'm kidding around. I do think that many of these jokes/shows are smarter than naysayers give them credit for though.

Last edited by lol on Sat Mar 02, 2013 6:00 pm; edited 2 times in total

Russians, Indians, and Chinese all figured huge numbers of slaves as well. They weren't necessarily imported. Somehow that's less significant. If Amerindians weren't scattered away, they would have been used as slaves, but there's less weight in hypothesizing. The list goes on for many other peoples as well, even beyond the context of slavery. Warfare, land grabs, and the associated ethnic discrimination with those, for instance. Nobody can claim black people were alone in their experience with the effects of colonization. If black people have a higher standard reserved only for their oppression, it seems intolerant for everyone else.

As far as I know, native Americans weren't used (for long, anyway) because they were too easy to loose. Same with indentured white servants. But if a black person ran away in a land where nearly all black people were slaves, then it was easier to find them. That would have been different in places like Louisiana, where there was a sizable population of free black people.

The fact that other cultures have and had slaves historically doesn't change the fact that slavery is bad. If everyone does it, it is still just as bad. The suffering slavery has caused black people is not diminished by the suffering other groups have had.

Big Bang Theory is meh. I had really high hopes that it would turn out to be a comedy that was aimed more at nerds and would be more realistic and have more inside jokes and references to things that nerds would get. Ended up being a comedy aimed at a general audience that plays off of nerd stereotypes instead and just comes off as forced and unrealistic.

Best comedy TV I ever watched was probably Dilbert, the cartoon series. God I'm sad that they cancelled that after one season, it had some really good potential. Like family guy, but more intelligent, sarcastic and cynical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlJsPa6UwcM_________________The Thirties dreamed white marble and slipstream chrome, immortal crystal and burnished bronze, but the rockets on the covers of the Gernsback pulps had fallen on London in the dead of night, screaming. - William Gibson, The Gernsback Continuum